May Happenings

Here's a summary of our month:

2 sucessful birthday parties for my May babies.

Maeve experienced her first bout of the stomach flu. She had it FOR-EV-ER!!! 5 days to be exact. And in those 5 days, she threw up 4 times. Sounds pretty nice right? Well, she literally threw up every 24 hours, so I would get my hopes up that she was all better, plan out my activities for the day, and then she would barf. I was housebound for 5 days. I cleaned out a bunch of closets, organized a bunch of paperwork, and even attacked my sewing pile. (Trying to see the silver lining here...)

During that time I was desperate for a book to read. So when I went to a garage sale this last Saturday and found a bunch of (10 to be exact) books from an author that I am enjoying right now for 50 cents apiece, I bought them all. I am pretty much set for the next few months with reading.

But to be realistic, I am too tired to read. I haven't been sleeping much, due to a little guy who has been a fussy baby for the last 2 weeks. I couldn't figure it out, thought maybe he was having a growth spurt, new teeth coming in, etc, until I was cleaning out his ears and smelled a stench that I can only describe as stinky socks-combined with laundry left in the washer too long-combined with toe jam. It stunk. I cleaned out his ear with some witch hazel, thinking maybe he had spit up while sleeping. I finally called the doc and brought him in. The doc assumed that it was an ear infection that had started draining, but I assured him that nothing had actually come out of his ear. The doc had to clear out some wax to see his eardrum, and as he was doing it, he apparently cleared the plug holding back the draining fluid and the horrific smell. The whole office stunk. I felt horrible! Poor kid has had an ear infection for who knows how long, and the only reason that I paid attention is because of a funky smell?!?! Sad. The doc did say that he was one of the happiest babies with an ear infection that he had ever seen. Nolan even giggled as he was cleaning out the wax, and apparently that doesn't happen too often either!

I made my last school lunch for the year! 2 more half days, and we are in the clear for summer!

Cannon also finished preschool today. I can't wait for the graduation ceremony on Friday!

I am soooooo ready to tackle summer! I am brainstorming ideas to do with the kids, and can't wait until days in the pool and nights of roasted marshmallows!
*sigh*

Nolan's Dedication

We dedicated Nolan at church a few Sundays ago. The pastor charged us to commit to raise our children in the church, to pray for them constantly, and trust God as they grow. We have done it with all the kids, but this time, we got a really sweet gift basket after the event. Being a parent is hard, but knowing that we have support from our friends and family, and our church really help relieve some of the stress.

Pretty in Pink

I think this is one of the reasons that I love this little one so much....




Dress up, crown, and a good book! It's what every girl wants!

Princess Party

Happy Birthday Maeve!!!
When you woke up this morning, Brynn decided to read you your favorite book as a birthday present. I don't know if Brynn was really reading it, or just making up stories to go with the pictures, but either way, you were one happy camper to get full attention from her for a bit!

The theme this year for your birthday was "Dress Up Princess". Daddy and I could not have chosen a better 3 words to sum up your life so far! You LOVE dress up! You usually get yourself dressed in dress up right after jammies are taken off. Both sets of grandparents have bins of dress up, and when you visit, there is usually a trail of your clothes leading to the dress up bin. You take them off as you run to it, and you are always so excited to put on something fancy!
Your birthday was the first time you have ever gotten to use the "red plate". I think you were pretty excited!
I tried to make you a special dress up dress for your birthday, but it was too big, and you said, "This looks silly", and then refused to wear it. You spent the day playing with some of your new toys, and I got the stuff for your party ready. I decorated your cake (its the thought that counts right babe?), set up the garage for your "dress-up" party, and tried to get the house ready.

We had dinner with the cousins, grandparents, your 3 friends, and their families. When each of your guests arrived, they got a bracelet, necklace, wand and tiara to start the dress-up fun. We ate pizza, carrots, salad, and watermelon. You wanted BBQ, but it was raining, so we made do with pizza.
After dinner, the little girls were able to get their nails painted, and Auntie Christi painted faces. The boys loved the face painting option!!
After all the fun, you got to blow out the candles on your cake. Unfortunately the cake looked pretty bad by this point. The frosting melted due to the humidity in the air, combined with the heat from the oven. Also, the sparkler candles that I thought would make you smile, didn't really sparkle....at all. Sad.

You got a lot of really great gifts this year! Tons of girly dress up type things, as well as Polly Pockets, which you love to play with right now!

When it was time for everyone to go, they each left with a lollipop that was decorated with a sparkly hair clip that I made for all the guests.
I hope you had a great birthday baby! You are a joy in our lives!

Countdown

It has begun.
8 more mornings until school gets out.
8 more mornings of shaking awake our eldest who doesn't like school.
Not. One. Bit.
8 more mornings of trying to make a healthy breakfast that the 3 kids can all agree on.
8 more mornings of packing a lunch that most likely gets tossed anyways.
8 more mornings until we get to have a little more say in determining our schedule for the day.
8 more mornings until cousin play dates when my sister in law and I attack our to-do list, and the kids run amuck, eating us out of house and home.
8 more mornings until sunburns, and the smell of chlorine in sleepy kids hair when I kiss them goodnight.
8 more mornings until SUMMER!
I think I might be more excited than them!

Sibling Love

These two make me laugh!

3 Years

Here is my 3 year old. She is the girl of many faces, who makes me laugh! She has a quick wit, and has been called the "old soul" of our family since she was a baby. She is easy going, but can ruin a trip if she wants to. She loves frilly dresses, polly pockets, dress-up, and all things girly.
Happy Birthday to the little one who makes me smile...even when she doesn't know it!

6 months

The littlest man is already 6 months old. I would love to say that time is flying by, and I am cherishing every second, but truth be told, he is a hard one to figure out and keep happy. I would love to blame teething, growth spurts, colic, ANYTHING on why he cries all the time, but realistically, I have no idea. He only naps if I am holding him. I have 4 kids. I can't hold him all the time.

He has two teeth, and is eating oatmeal or veggies once or twice a day. He has no schedule, sometimes sleeping in until 9 am, and sometimes getting up at 6am. He has been getting up 2 times a night to nurse. The first time around 2 am, and the second time around 5am. He does LOVE to sleep in the car, so every time we drive anywhere he conks out and gets a little cat nap. He won't sleep in the swing, and won't nap in his bed, so I look forward to running errands, and have found myself loading up the kids to take a "drive" when I can't handle the crying anymore.

He rolls all over, and when he is content on the floor, I find him in all sorts of weird places. Under the coffee table, squished up near the couch, in the kitchen...etc. He is starting to be able to sit up, but has to have a crash zone all around him when he leans too far over to stay balanced.

Brynn has been given the privilege of carrying him around. It is awesome for me, cause she likes to do it, and he usually stops crying if he is being held, so its a win win!

I can't wait (for many reasons) to see what he is like as he gets more and more of his personality. I think he is going to be loud like the others, and be strong willed. I can tell that he has a bit of temper too, which is funny now, but will drive me crazy in a year no doubt. He loves to watch his siblings, and gets really excited when they play with him, even if it is just to put barrettes in his hair..... I am hoping that when he starts to crawl he will be happier on his own, and won't require me to lug him around so much. My back is hoping for that too!

6 Month Stats:
Height: 50%
Weight: 17.8 lbs 60%
Loves: Bath time, car rides, being tickled in his armpits, and being held
Hates: Naps
Nicknames: Nollie Rollie Pollie
Vaccines: 3 injections, one oral (all done for 6 months now!!!!)

Haircut

Maeve got her first haircut! I kept scissors away from her shaggy 'do for almost 3 years, but I just couldn't take it anymore. I had to even it out. I think that she might have been a bit dramatic in the "before" shots, but she looks cute with her new little hair do!

Before.... and after!



I didn't notice, until I looked at these pictures, that there is an absurd amount of ear wax in this kids ear! Sorry....

5 Years Old, and Just a Few Legos....

Cannon turned 5 on the 5th of May. My little Cinco de Mayo baby!
The weather was absolutely beautiful, and we had a great day! Cannon chose the menu for the days meals, and we started off the day with cinnamon rolls, eggs with cheese, bacon AND sausage. He got to use the special Red Plate (which is by far the most desired thing in our house at this point....). I did his birthday interview from the birthday book, and started off our day that was all about him.

He opened his presents, and spent a few minutes putting together his first of many Lego models. He then spent the rest of the morning playing with the dollar store ninjas that his sisters got him.
Its my tradition to take the kids to the movies for the first time on their 5th birthday, so we went to see RIO. I love the looks of amazement they have when they walk into the dark theatre, and see the huge screen! At one point he climbed into my lap cause the "bad guy" bird was a little intense....it made me laugh.
He had his birthday party in the evening, and we were going to have a party in the park, but ended up having it on our front lawn instead. We don't have a great play structure like the park, but to make up for it, we rented a jumpy house! The company was nice enough to deliver it 2 hours early so my kids had a ton of time by themselves in it to jump and go crazy.

The theme of his party was Lego, and I kept it super simple!

We bbq'd hamburgers and hot dogs, fed all the kids and their families, and had a great time!

Happy Birthday Cannonball!